Reversible grinder machine for reelable strand stock



Sept. 27, 1949. L. ILLMER ETAL 2,483,283

REVERSIBLE GRINDER MACHINE FOR REELABLE STRAND STUCK Filed Jan. 29, 19473 Sheets-Sheet l N .mw

INVENTORJ' A 00/5 ILL HER VERNo N 1?. PHLLJS HTTUR NFY.

Sept. 27, 1949. lLLMER -r 2,483,283

REVERSIBLE GRINDER MACHINE FOR REELABLE STRAND STOCK Filed Jan 29 1947 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORSI A 00/5 ILL ME I? S H L Y W PWE on m T MM N u vPatented Sept. 27, 1949 REVERSIBLE GRINDER MACHINE FOR REELABLE STRANDSTOCK Louis Illmer, Cortland, N. Y., and Vernon R. Pallas, Randolph,Ohio Application January 29, 1947, Serial No. 725,114

19 Claims.

The present invention broadly relates to a novel strand grinding machineof the heavy duty surfacing type, and is more particularly directed toimproved equipment adapted to abrasively treat a long length of alloywire, narrow strip or the like reelable stock in one or more passes. Ourmachine preferably drags its work piece horizontally between powerdriven, reversible reels and is designed to intensively pregrind or torapidly polish high tensile stock which when passed longitudinally at asufficiently high travel rate, of itself furnishes the necessaryvelocity for vigorous cutting action when applying a slowly advancingabrasive agency such as paper backed tape.

The object of our invention is to devise an effective simplified grinderunit adapted to economically process diametrically large sized reelablewire or ribbon stock in successively reversed passes and to provide foran improved framework of rolled structural steel together with sundrydesign features whereby to compactly install grinder heads on a lowfirst cost basis; also to afford refined strand reeling equipment of theheavy duty type including associated brake devices and other adjunctsthat permit of speedy reel reversals Without pernicious shock.

Reference is had to the accompanying three sheets of drawingsrepresenting an illustrative exemplification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational side view of an assembled wire grinder of theindicated character, and Fig. 2 shows one end view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of the Fig. 1 assembly, and Fig. 4 afragmental detail taken cross-sectionally along l4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 depicts a front face view of a left-hand head layout as seen from5-5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 a cross-sectional view taken along 6-6 of Fig.5 to reveal certain mounting details of our rotating heads.

Fig. 7 is taken in partial section along '!7 of Fig. 1 and shows a tapefeed disposition similar to Fig. 5 but arranged as a reversed right-handhead layout.

Fig. 8 is a rear view of our grinder head as taken along 8-8 of Fig.6.

Fig. 9 shows a modification of Fig.2 in that our abrasive machine isarranged to treat ribbon stock.

Fig. 10 indicates the type of our opposed tape backing jaws particularlyas .applied to ribbon stock as taken alon Ill-10 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 11is a transverse detail taken along ll--H of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 diagrammatically shows a fragmental section of one demountablestock reel as taken through its center line l2l2 of Fig. 1.

Referring more specifically to these disclosures, our grinderarrangement may include a built-up framework fabricated from rolledstructural steel comprising a pair of laterally spaced channelled baserails I83 and l l of which the primary median rail l9 longitudinallyunderlies the entire machine length to uphold a weight portion of bothreel axles 68A and 68B. Said primary rail also imparts rigidity to ourgrinder frameworkand counteracts reel momentum while being rapidlyreversed.- The flanges of the respective rails may be opposed in theFig. 2 fashion. During shop erection, these several base rails serve topreassemble and fit all working parts thereon. They may be fabricated insingle piece lengths or in equivalent sectionalized lengths that are tobe vgrouted upon a common foundation.

Erected in substantial coplanar registry with said primary rail it are aplurality of rolled structural uprights such as IZA, i213, etc. (seeFig. 1) whose tips may be spanned by a channelled stringer beam l4rolled to a uniform cross-sectional profile throughout its length andhaving a substantial web depth. A laterally interbraced shorter baserail I5 lies parallel to the primary rail l9. Said shorter rail likewisehas erected thereon a series of similar uprights IZA', [23, etc. thatmay register with their respective mates I2A, I2B, etc. A companion beaml6 spanningly seats upon the uprights l2A, 52B, etc. in parallelism withthe like stringer is disposed above the axis level of said reels. Theelongated webs of such complementary beams are preferably turnedoutwardly as in Fig. 8 and all such frame components may be weldedtogether into a unitary superstructure erected upon said rails.

A plurality of rolled cross channel irons such as l8A, I8B, etc. maybridge said pair of stringer beams M and i6 (see Fig. 6) but these beamsmay also be otherwise interbraced. Such built up rolled structural steelframework members are arranged to effect a material reduction in shopcomparatively short pedestal 20. The outturned cup rims of said abrasiveheads are interspaced to leave ample servicing room between nextadjacent head assemblies. Each such assembly may comprise a tubularspindle 2| having reversely disposed cup-shaped heads 22 and 22respectively afiixed to the spindle ends with their mouths facedoutwardly. Fig. 1 only shows three such installed head units, but tomeet heavy duty steel works requirements in handling 4' alloy wire for a5% weight reduction in comparatively few passes, it is intended toprovide for some six or more abrasive head assemblies in tandem. Thelayout of each such head except for certain modifications, follows theteachings of the'Pallas Patent No. 2,033,392 of March 10, 1936, tocomprise duplex tape supply spools 23 and 23" rotatably mounted uponstanchions such as 24 aflixed to the disc web of each cupped head. Therespective spools may separately carry a supply of grit or the like rolltapes 25 and 25'. These tapes are individually fed outwardly oversuitable guide rollers between the opposed spring backed jaws of thepivoted type such as 19, into abrasive engagement with the single wirework piece strand w 26 that may be loosely threaded through the severalspindles 2|.

These tapes are thence respectively led to one of the continuouslydriven feed rollers 21 or 21 as in Fig. 5. Said rollers may respectivelycooperate with a spring retained pressure agency to fortify the tapegrip of such positively driven feed rollers. As indicated in Fig. 6,each feed roller shank may be journaled through a head disc bore andhave the overhung end thereof provided with a planetary head gear suchas 2 8 or 28. The respective planetary gears mesh with a driven commonmaster gear 29 of identical pitch diameter. Said master gear is shownrotatably mounted about the spindle axis in a bearing portion of thepedestal 20 (see Fig. 6). Conioined with said master gear, is alaterally offset supplementary gear 30 which in turn meshes with aseparate intermediate gear St. The resulting gear train is such that theabrasive tapes of each head will be advanced in opposite arroweddirections (see Fig. 5). When slowly fed, each tape may becomesubstantially spent in a single pass through its cutting Zone, whereuponit may be lodged as waste within the head rim confines andintermittently removed or be wound upon anofftake spool.

Mounted lengthwise of said series of tandem heads, are a succession ofshort upright brackets 33A, 33B, 33C, etc. (see Figs. 1. and 2), servingto seat an upper head drive shaft 34 and a lower tape feedshaft 35 inparallelism. Said head shaft may be chain connected at 35 to rotate inunison with the cross-shaft 84 presently to be defined in detail. Eachsuch bracket may be provided with a faced depending foot portion 33'afllxed fiatwise to the vertically disposed web of the stringer 1-4 (seeFig. 8). The top of the alternate brackets 33A and 33C may be providedwith a liftable cap 33" for the unobstructed dismantling of the headshaft 3 upwardly. Intermediate its foot and cap region, each suchbracket may further be equipped with an inset, laterally removable capblock 3'! for dismounting the tape feed shaft 35 sidewise.

The upper portion of certain upright brackets may be forked to introducean interposed sprocket 38 .afiixed to the drive shaft 34 and whichsprocket chain drives the principal spindle sprocket 32. On therespective opposite sides of each such bracket, the feed shaft 35 mountsthe complementary spur gears 39 and 40 which may each alignedly meshwith an appropriate intermediate spur gear 3|. The last named gears maybe pivoted to a common prop arm 4| integrally supported by its bracketto provide for two laterally spaced trains of tape feed spur gears foreach head assembly.

In order to obviate abnormal tortional wire twist, next adjacent headassemblies may be rotated in reverse directions as indicated by arrowsin Fig. 1. To this 'end, the cap of every alternate bracket such as 33Bmay be raised to provide for a demountable crown block :22 (see Fig. i)which may be provided with a stub shaft 43. Said shaft maybe driven offthe head shaft 34 by the reversins gears 4'4 and of equal diametral sizewhereby the master gear 29 and head disc 22 are made to rotate in acommon direction. The elevated stub shaft sprocket 66 may be chainconnected to its spindle sprocket 32 to maintain. all heads at identicalspeeds.

One end of the head drive shaft 34 may be equipped with a pinion 59 tomesh with a driven spur gear 51 of twice the pinion diameter andarranged to circumscribe the corresponding extended end of the main feedshaft 35. As detailed in Fig. 4, a tubular differential housing or unit18 may have said spur gear 5l' keyed to the nave of a contracted housingneck end as shown. The extended end of the main feed shaft may ailixedlycarry the primary bevel gear 53 disposed interiorly of such bell-shapedhousing. Two or more planetary idler bevel gears such as 5'4 may bemounted in balanced relation upon individual studs such as '55 tocooperate with the bevel gear 53. A mated secondarly bevel gear 56 maybe mounted on the axially aligned auxiliary slow speed shaft 51 enteredinto the mouth of the housing 48 to complete a differential gear train.A demountable stay plate 49 may radially brace said mouth against geartooth reaction. The outer free end of the last named shaft may carry achange gear 58 which meshes with a smaller like gear on the slow speedoutput shaft of a largeratio gyro reducer 59 (see Fig. 3). Such compactreducer may be independently driven by an electric motor 60 through achain drive or may be direct connected thereto.

It will be observed that in Fig. 4, an elevated floor 6| may spancorespon'ding end regions of the stringer beams l4 and i6 and have thegyro equipment accessibly installed thereon. An elongated servicingplatform 62 disposed alongside the base region of our grinder, placessuch equipment and the elevated grinder heads on an easy reach level.Said stepped platform may be extended sidewise into interposed relationbeneath the elevated stringer beams and their underlying base rails i8and 15 for compactly stowing certain adjuncts thereon.

When the motor 69 is shut down and the'bevel gear remains stationary,the speed imparted to the tape feed shaft 35 will be identical with thatof the head drive shaft 34 whereby the mated planetary gears 2-3 and 28'while traveling about the master gear 29, will not rotate either feedroller 2i or 21' although the feed shaft section 35 continues to revolveat grinder head speed. When however, the motor is made operative, thiswill modify the rotation of the bevel gear 53 and thereby advance allthe tapes to the work piece at a fixed predetermined rate. An alteredchange gear ratio establishes a difierent tape feed rate in accordancewith requirements. As devised, the

motor 60 may be automatically shut down by remote control during eachwork piece reversal period and thus obviate needles tape wastage.

Referring now to our refined rapidly reversing reeling equipment forpassing wire products, at tention is directed to Fig. 12. Suchinherently light weight pair of slow speed reels 63A and 5313 mayrespectively be mounted upon the parallel axles disposed transverselybeyond the respective stringer beams l4 and it (see Fig. 3). Each suchaxle is alternately driven by the housed widely separated bevel gear orconventional right angular speed reducer units 65A and 65B, respectivelyequipped with a slow speed outlet shaft 66A or 66B and a perpendicularhigh speed input shaft MA or 613. Each such housing may rest across thelaterally spaced rails Iii and II (see Fig. 2). The housings 65A and 653each comprise a pair of axially aligned roller bearings thatrespectively mount their outlet shafts therethrough. It will be notedthat rail supported housings constitute pillow blocks'for theirrespective reels.

Said outlet shafts may also be integrally extended away from theirrespective reels to constitute a tail shaft portion 68A or 683 disposedto mount a sprocket thereon. An outboard bearing 82 supports the freetail shaft end which may rest upon a pair of transverse base railssuch'as 83 welded rectangularly to a supplementary rail II to constitutea skeletonized unitary subbase or platen upon which to affixedly erectassociated components of our grinder machine as a frame superstructurecollectively designated H in Fig. 1.

As will appear from Fig. 3, each inturned end of the reversed reducerinput shaft 67A or 6113 may be equipped with an independently controlledelectromagnetic or equivalent clutch such as 69A or 69B and whichclutches are alignedly interconnected by the long split-endedcross-shaft 84. The last named shaft may be mounted upon pluralpedestals such as 54 that respectively straddle the base rails H! and Hin close adjacency with its clutch as shown. A main grinder motor 18 maychain drive said cross shaft or operate through a gear reducer unit iithat may also be mounted on the rails 6 9-4 I and be interposed'betweenthe remotely controlled clutches 69A and 69B.

. When one or the other of said clutches is made operative in successionby automatic remote controls hereinafter identified, the suspended workpiecei26 will be alternately transferred from reel to reel. A long batchlength of heavy Wire stock exceeding one half ton in weight is hereinafforded for abrasive treatment to minimize the need for frequent reelreversals. It is preferred to operate with the inherently light weightreels 63A and B3B, which when loaded, may. have the transferred wirewound ther-earound in reasonably deep layers. To facilitate suchwinding, we resort to level winder means of the actuated rockerarm-type, preferably including an independent vertical worm gear reducerunit 12 (see Fig. 1) for each reel as erected upon the platform 62. Thehorizontal high speed inlet shaft of such speed reducer may be chaindriven by its axle sprocket 13 (see Fig. 2) and a pair of change gearspermit of definitely altering the rotative speed of the associatedupright slow speed outletshaft. A disc cam such as is indicated bydotted outline in Fig. 3, may be carried by each reducer outlet shaft tocooperatively oscillate the roller carrying lever 11. Said lever isshown'fulcrumed to the lower end of the oscillatory vertical shaft 18mounted in the bearing bracket 19. The uppervertical" shaftendsynchronously swings the level winder rocker equipped with mated workpiece guide rollers to laterally shift the reeled wire into layerformation. Said rocker may be rule jointed at iii to allow of liftingits reel overhung outer end into its raised dotted position (see Fig.1)' and thereby clear a newly installed reel while replenishing atreated wirebatch. Y

The identical diametraldimensiongiven to our wire reels 63A and 63Bshould be kept in an appropriate relation to the treated wire size andto the normal travel rate at which such wireiis being transferred,preferably at'a velocity of several thousand feet per minute. Aconventional pyramidal three roller wire straightener may-be usedto'rectify any excessivecrimp'set the wire may suffer as it leaves areel, but it is preferred to hold each reel to a sufficient diametralslzeto obviate the need for such appurtenances.

Referring further to Fig. 12, this shows a six arm standard non-crowned,cast iron pulley type of reel 633. The considerable coarsegrit drag thatmay be exerted by our plural tape backing jaws l9; may subject the workpiece to "a relatively high tension stress. When numerous coils aretightly Wrapped'upon a-reel, such combined wire stress may set upexcessive radial loading on the rim span portion suspendedas a beambetween the extremities of next adjacent arms.

- Additional wire layersaccumulatively augment the cited beam crushingeffect. In order to reenforce 'our loaded beam span against'collapsewithout unduly adding rotating weight to such bound reel rim 89,wepreferably provide for rel-.- atively thin duplex sheet steel platesor centrally apertured' side discs 86- and 86- which may be continuouslywelded to a rim edgeat 8! as an armour and to form a water sealed joint..The respective inner disc edges may be interbraced by the complementaryreenforcing rings such as 88 having multiple stay bolts 88' rivetedtherebetween to impart lateral stability to the loaded discs. The outerperimeter of .said discs may or'may not be extended radially beyond therim confines to constitute mated flanges.

Such perimetrically. fast running reels afford considerable inherentair-cooling capacity for an intensively abraded wire. Said complementaryside discs may further serve to entrap without spill onto the coiledwire, any water discreetly injected interiorly of the rotating reel rimthrough the controlled'spray nozzle piping ,85 as a supplementarycooling agency. I

The hub 90 of each reel may be demountably attached to vthe end of acorresponding slow speed reducer outlet shaft 663 by the flangedcoupling 9| to provide for averticalflangeparting face 92 indicated, indotted outline (see Fig. 12). An interposed two-part radial key 93transmits power to the reel hub 98. A centering bush 94 may be mountedat the keyed end of the hub bore and have a solitary reel securingbolt95 entered therethrough as shown, the tip of such elongated boltshank being firmly anchored into an axially tapped hole extending intothe end of the shaft 663. An enlarged bolt head may be centered into theother end of the hub bore and secured in place by the demountableretaining plate 96. When uncoupledv by withdrawing said bolt, eitherreel may be freely lifted directly upwardly and be :replaced, by ..aspare reel of similar design loaded with untreated wire stock. Saidspare reel when installed, is intended to replenish apreviouslycompleted wire batch; 1 I

bsa seccess an n ma I ation of the elec; ronesesth a... .h fifid 593 butea ed; to op rate e. ea tenets ea eirq sq t. ing QEi-QF Q W hi? he EeeiiN trainee s. hells ener s n. s- 1 and 3 of the present disclosure,such a layout may aner seameter re wheateetrtdsseseat trea ed st and 2nd" messa e ere re istered reilct n t ie s aetsgie aera e-tilt controlsw tches of l irlns 6%. 1 5 in. scen a andotb tni a-b riee wi eliivma crevere. 0t outel usi-.1. ristrument l t este c te 9- chews the advanta ewor Wi i ht we ht re s possessing a comer r vsme l to ed ti es enerenfere yen st a s qu remen s. h present. d sc psmjcs. ena e ast r nni rees to be. rapidiatrquehtto neat st y a heav br s reewcnk R cceldragndthere mrisfio benr miztlii a rated tacit tdnormel; r nsf r seced- Q 13 reel refinements: aim to minimiz the inevitable 0% ct productive.capacity associa ed-W th eversinggn'nder machine Assumin the e hligipower-to he suddenly. shutoff fromv a driven. fa t running leading reelzctutch, then the trailingreel by momentum driit. tends to. overtravel;in not be: ing simultaneously, sub-.iected: to a like, decelera by. wiredrag. turn may. cause the reel suspended trailing wire portion toslacken abnormally, particularly since an initial; wire layerremaindng'on the, trailing reei is obliged to rotate at. a iasteh-ratethan its wirev filled mate.

orderto ameliorate such reel overhaul dur-, ing reversal,- it ispreferred to incite en agement otthe trailing reel clutch in close.succession with therelease-ot-the leading reel clutch. 'I'heresult-.ingrsliperunningon part of the energized trailing clutch sets. up acountertorque. ready to, l everse the travel direction of botl'i reelswhen their momentum has become spent.

'Fo further correct such "deficiency, we may also provide fora speedequalizing ordifie'rential brake (see Fig 3) or the reinotecontrol-ledelectromagnetic type timed bythe. lead wires I62 and H12 placed tinderthe control: oi the pilot unit as. Such auxiliary brake maycomprise'multiple frictionalplates; of which alternate spring loadedcrutch discs such as H13: and: HM may for relagive rotations berespectively cleatedto their casing-l-fld-and to the horizontalnon-split or through mounting shaft I506. A sprocket l0] may be keyed:to the last named shaft and another spiiaclget it} is keyed to thecasing hub, said relatiZvel-y movable sprockets being respectively chainQIiill in unison with one of the opposed reel axies Gflgi and 5133 asshown,

In the event a driven reel such as 6'3A'running at -ul-l;ngrmal speed,should have its electromagpetig-clutch 59A cut out preparatory to reelreversal then the comparatively heavy abrasive d ragexerted by ourgrinder heads u po ri the leading pogtion of the suspended wireifi tendsto rapidly decelerate such floating reel. Since no cofrespondir g dragis at the same time acting upon the t trailing reel 3B, the latter willmbinentarily tend to surge igrwar'd at a relatively fasterrotative rate.As a result, the trailing suspended wire portion headed toward thegrinder heads is likely to become seriously slackened by reel overhaul.

Assuming that our timed difierential brake has at this particularinstant become operative, a frictional slip will be set up between thenext adiacent plates. IQB- and L04 which strenuously counteractsmomentum on part of the. trailing reel. This in turn speeds up'its mateddeceler-Q ated reel. and serves to slow down both reels in approximatesynchronism. The frictional, disc drag afforded by such differentialbrake is pref-L erabiy kept commensurate with the tapejaw drag exertedon the passed wire.

saves tape requirements butpromots productive delivery of our grindermachine.

Referring now to Fig. 9 which shows an end view of our grinder equippedto handle ribbon on the like, narrow strip stock. Here a deeply flangedreel such as 53A may be demountably carried at one end of each reel axlesuch as Q61} having saidtreatedribbon stock spirally loaded thereonflatwise, the reels being preferably wound with alternate strip-stockspiralsto constitute the superimposed dual work-pieces H2 and l l2 ofthe kind indicated in Fig. 10.

As applied to the treatment of ribbon orv the like narrow stock, therespective chain drives for the principal spindle sprocket 32 of eachrotating head assembly may be disconnected from the drive shaft 34 so asto constitute a series of sta: tionary heads such as 22 and 22-. Thesemay be appropriately locked into a fixed nonrotatable position withtheir respective tapes disposed to feed in parallelism with the flatfacesof a single narrow strip or the registering similar dual workpieces H2 and H2 as represented in Fig. 11. If desired, certain of saidtapes may also be disposed in rectangular relation to simultaneouslytreat opposed ribbon edges.

The jaw interposed complementary abrasive tapes 25 and 25, may bearranged to bring both exposed faces ofsaid superimposeddual workpiecesv H2 and [12! into. operative contact with their respective tapesfor simultaneous grinding. It is emphasized that such tapes of certainsuccessive heads may be advanced crosswise of: the ribbon length inopposed directions by. reversed headrotation in the Fig; 1 manner.

As. shown by arrows in theleit-hand Fig. 5 and the right-hand Eig. 7head layouts, their corresponding abrasive tape pairs may likewisebearranged to. drag reversely inward toward the center-line of the.treated ribbon stock from opposed edges, to the end that the groundsurface may remain substantially fiat without pronounced crowning. Suchcrowning effect maybe further reduced by the use of fine grit or afaster than normal tape feed rate.

It will be obvious that although the chain-disconnected heads remainstationary for strip grinder needs, the driven'feed'shaft 35 is stillkept operative as described, except that the wire level winder mechanismmay for the time be dispensed with. Likewise the use of the bracketcrown block 42 is rendered inexpedient. In lieu oi the guide rollers onthe. level winder rocker arm 811, similar guide roller means such as II4. may be interspaced to receive; the ribbon edges therebetween (seeEigs. 6. and 10).. p

The foregoing rather explicit structural disclosure and its functionalbehavior will, it is believed, make evident to those skilled in-thisart,

7 the more outstanding commercial and operative advantages afforded byourstrand grinder improvements over the prior art, and we reserve theright to equivalently'modify our illustrative features, all withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of our invention, heretoforedescribed and more particularly characterized in the-appended claims. T

We claim: Y

-' gear interposed between contiguous ends of the 1. A unitary grindermachine comprising'a pair of axially interspaced reels'adapted to have areelable strand portion transferably suspended therebetween asa-longitudinallydragged movable work piece, a sub-base including 'arectilinear primary rail lying beneath the level of the reel axes andhaving a weight portion of each reel respectively imposed upon oppositerail endregions, motive means driving on'e' 'of said reels, askeletonized superstructure including a rolledstringer beam of uniformcross-sectional profile throughout its length that is propped upon saidrail in substantial parallelism and which beam length is shorter thanthe interspacing between the reel perimeters, and plural'grinder headmeans upheld in tandemby-such superstructure above the level of the reelaxes and respectively brought into operative abrasive engagement withthe suspended work piece portion, a driven sectionalized feed shaftaflixed to a stringer beam and having a differential gear interposedbetween contiguous shaft ends, one such shaft section serving to controlthe feed of abrasive to theplural head means,

' and-a separately motorized gyro-reducer whose slow speed outletselectively rotates the other shaft section and which reducer whenrendered inoperative, interrupts the feed of abrasive to the work piecewhile said one shaft section continues to rotate. r I

2. A horizontal grinder machine comprising a pairof driven-reels axiallyinterspaced in parallelism and adapted to have a reelable strand portiontransferably suspended therebetween as a longitudinally movable workpiece, motive means driving one of said reels, a platenlike sub- -basedisposed beneath the axes level of said reels to include a pair oflaterally spaced rails of which one such railis arranged to upholda'weight portion of eachreel at the respective rail end regions thereof,a row of uprights erected upon each such rail, mated rolled stringerbeams of uniform cross-sectional profile throughout the length thereofand respectively propped upon each such row of uprights to lie above theaxis level of said reels, to constitute a superstructure, a plurality oftubular grinder head means collectively carried by said beams and havingsaid suspended strand portion threaded therethrough for abrasivetreatment and a driven sectionalized feed shaft havof said reels,pedestalmeans anchored between feed shaft sections, one such sectionbeing rotated in unison with a reel and the other section beingindependently motorized to selectively run 4 at a materially slowerspeed.

reelable' strand transferably suspended therebe- 4. A grinder machinecomprising a pair of reels axially interspaced and adapted to have atween as a longitudinally movable work piece, a

grinder assembly arranged to treat a portion of such WOlk piece by meansof abrasive tape and n: nu

which assembly includes a spindle mounting an abrasive head providedwith feed roller means for controllably advancing said tape toward itscuttin zone, means driving said head at a sustained rotative speed, adriven sectionalized feed shaft having a differential gear interposedbetween contiguous ends thereof, one such section being disposed torotate said feed roller means through a planetary gear train carried bythe head, a separately motorized speed reducer whose slow 'speed outletis connected to optionally rotate the other'feed shaft section and whichwhen stopped does not permit the tape to advance toward its cutting zonealthough said one shaft sec-- ing a differential gear'bridgingcontiguous shaft end regions, one such shaft section being arranged torotate in unison with a reel and the shaft of which reducer is tioncontinues to rotate in unison with the sustained head speed.

5. A grinder machine comprising a pair of driven reels axiallinterspaced in parallelism and adapted to have a reelable strand portiontransferably suspended therebetween as a longitudinally movable workpiece, a skeletonized superstructure including a rolled stringer beam ofuniform cross-sectional profile that is interposed lengthwise betweenthe reel perimeters. and propped upon uprights to lie above the axislevel of said reels, plural grinder assemblies respectively adapted toabrasively treat the suspended portion of said work piece and disposedin tandem along suchbeam, said assemblies respectively bein providedwith'a spindle having an abrasive head-at each spindle end, bracketscorresponding with each such spindle carried by said beam, a spindleactuating head shaft -journaled in such brackets, and combined crownblock and stub shaft means including reversing gears for one suchbracket and arranged to rotate its spindle in a direction opposite tothat of a next adjacent spindle.

6. A grinder machine comprising a pair of driven reels axiallyinterspaced in parallelism and adapted to have a reelable strand portiontransferably suspended therebetween as a longitudinally movable workpiece, a stringerbeam interposed lengthwise between the reel perimeter'sto wholly lie above the axis level thereof, grinder means fastened tosaid beams and having its abrasive brought into operative engagementwith the suspended work piece portion, motorized mean intermittentlyrotating said reels in unison, alevel winder mechanism including arocker afiixed to the upper end of an oscillatory vertical shaft mountedat a beam end region and havin a roller lever a-fiixed to thedependingshaft end, a vertical speed reducer located beneath the beamlevel and theupstanding slowspeed output 7 provided with cooperativemeans serving to actuate the rocker lever, and

timed clutch at the respective shaft end regions, supplemental brakemeans comprising a pair of independentl rotatable disc components whichare respectively connected to rotate in synchronism with a differentaxle and by slip between said discs arranged to exert a correlatedcounterdrag on the trailing reel during its reversal period.

16. A grinder machine comprising a pair of reels axially inter-spaced inparallelism and adapted to have a reelable ribbon or the like relativelynarrow strip stock transferably suspended fiatwise between the reelperimeters as a work piece, drive means rotating said reels in unison,and a succession of stationary grinder head means disposed in tandem,one such head means being provided with complementary abrasive tapesrespectively brought into crosswise operative. engagement with theopposed fiat faces of the work piece and arranged to simultaneouslyadvance from opposite directions toward a particular strip edge of suchtreated work piece, another head means being arranged to provide forcomplementary tapes that reversely approach the aforesaid particularstrip edge in a counterwise direction whereby to diminish crowned facegrinding.

17. A grinder machine comprising a pair of reels axially interspaced inparallelism and adapted to have dual strip stock portions superimposedfiat wise which are transferably suspended and simultaneously draggedlengthwise between the reel perimeters as a work piece, two grinder headmeans each provided with mated abrasive tapes respectivel advanced intooperative engagement with the exposed outer flat 'faces of said dualstrip stock portions from opposite strip edges toward the centerlinethereof, and means feeding all such tapes simultaneously, correspondingtapes of one such head means being advanced in a contrary direction fromthose of the other head means.

18. A grinder machine comprising a pair of reels axially interspaced inparallelism and adapted to have a strand portion transferably suspendedbetween the reel perimeters as a work piece, drive means for reversingsaid reels in unison from a normal rotative speed, grinder head meansadapted to treat the suspended work piece with abrasive tape and whichmeans include a feed roller advancing said tape toward its abrasivezone, a differential gear train comprising a driven primary geartogether with a secondary gear that cooperatively mesh with aninterposed planetary pinion, said gear train being operativcly connectedto selectively rotate the feed roller, a speed reducer whose outputshaft 13 is arranged to rotate said secondary gear, a timed independentmotor serving to drive the input shaft of said reducer, and meansperiodically rendering said motor inactive during each reversal periodof said reels and thereby intermittently cease rotation of the feedroller tape advance after a predetermined reduction in the rotative reelspeed has been reached.

19. A grinder framework comprising base rail means serving to reverselymount an angular speed reducer unit at the respective rail end regions,each such unit including a slow speed shaft and a corresponding highspeed shaft, the latter being respectively directed toward each other inaxial alignment, driven cross-shaft means selectively interconnected byclutch means to run either of the high speed shafts, a radially facedflange afiixed to a tapped end of one such slow speed shafts, a tubularreel-carrying hub provided with a hub end face that is 35 demountablycoupled to said flange face, key

means interlocking such mated faces, a headed locking bolt having ashank extending through said hub into threaded engagement with theaforesaid tapped shaft end, a companion reel cooperatively carried bythe other of said slow speed shafts and adapted to have a work piecetransferably suspended between the reels, and grinder head meansinterposed between the reel perimeters and brought into abrasiveengagement with such suspended work piece.

LOUIS ILLMER. VERNON R. PALLAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 338,603 Logan Mar. 23, 18862,033,392 Pallas Mar. 10, 1936 2,033,393 Pallas Mar. 10, 1936 2,105,612Pallas Jan. 18, 1938 2,263,206 Cornell Nov. 18, 1941 2,320,142 Illmer eta1. May 25, 1943 2,343,460 Illmer et al Mar. 7, 1944 2,394,381 HoernFeb. 5, 1946 2,424,465 Illmer July 22, 1947

